Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes are used for error correcting in noisy channels. Although not limited in this respect and not limited to wireless communications, to exemplify, LDPC codes appear in various standards, such as the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.16e, IEEE 802.11n, DVB-T2 and IEEE 802.15.3c, for example.
An iterative LDPC decoder is conventionally used. This decoder is controlled in part by the maximum allowed number of iterations per codeword. Performance of such a decoder is monotone with the number of iterations—as a rule of thumb, when the number of iterations decrease, the performance does not increase (e.g., block error rate may not further decrease).
Thus, a strong need exists for improved techniques for LDPC decoding.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.